Philosophy- the Individual and the Church

Many great philosophers have managed to make themselves a name thanks to theories or innovations etc, and these are usually the people that we may think of when someone mentions the term 'philosophy'. It is definitely the way my mind works anyway. Ancient Greeks. Italian masterpieces from the Renaissance. Roman emperors. Danish and Polish astronoms. People. Individuals.

What I haven't really thought of before reading the book 'History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell is the influence philosophy had on the Church, both the Catholic and the Christian. I do know that philosophy has a huge influence on everything, whether we like it or not. It's there and exists around us all the time. It's as normal as breathing or sleeping. Philosophising.

But it's not only philosophical reasons that has formed, and still do influence the Church. Factors such as the political and economical climate, as well as the new multi cultural society we live in have always played a big part. I would say that one of the biggest sources for changes both to the better and the worse is the multi cultural society, a term more relevant to this discussion now than ever before. This thanks to - or maybe because of - the many possibilities the world is offering us today with for example the EU.

Let's look back in time. We don't need to look far. Say 100 years. A time before mass media were developed to the enormous proportions they exist in today. When people didn't have the chance to update themselves on what was going on in the world or in their country. Maybe all they could do was keeping an eye (or ear) on what was going on in their closest surroundings, and maybe, if they were lucky, they could manage to listen to a radio somewhere in the village. The church was usually the place to gather. To meet people. To communicate. To gossip. To feel safe. To have a social life outside your family and your own home. Of course it was also a place to practice your religion.

Today, due to the open doors all around the world, religion has in one way moved on. People still believe, and will probably always keep believing. But today we're familiar with many more different types of religion. We know of Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus.. and the list could go on forever. But from a philosophical perspective, we all believe. Whether we believe in a god, many gods, God, Allah, Vishnu or maybe we believe in nothing at all - we are all still human beings inhabitating this planet called Earth. Whether we decide to go to church on Sundays or stay at home in bed (where we actually can watch church services live from somewhere in the country we are in at the moment!), we are all equally valued in today's society (and thank God for that).

Society and its habitants have developed new ways of living, their traditions have changed and so on. Church doesn't play as big a part today as it did 100 years ago. I'm not to judge whether this is for the better or worse, but I do think religion today is not as powerful as it once was, both for state and individual.

I'm not quite sure what I wanted to say with this blog post.. Society changes, both for individuals and institutions over time - it would be well weird otherwise. It will be very interesting to see where we are in another 100 years time and what kind of role the Church plays then and how the relation between State, Church and Individual will have changed.

Cheerios
Mads